Xbox & Forza Are Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month 2021, Xbox is spotlighting Hispanic and Latinx contributions to gaming, celebrating within and around games that highlight Hispanic and Latinx creators, experiences, and stories. One of these is the upcoming Forza Horizon 5, an Xbox exclusive set in Mexico.
Hispanic Heritage Month, celebrated from September 15 to October 15 in the United States, recognizes the histories, cultures and contributions of Hispanic and Latinx individuals. What originally started as a Hispanic Heritage Week in 1968 expanded to a 30-day celebration in 1988. The September 15 to October 15 span is significant because numerous independence anniversaries for Latin American countries fall in this time frame.
Throughout the month, Xbox will be showcasing Hispanic and Latinx voices in a variety of was, such as highlighting games made in Latin American countries or featuring playable Hispanic/Latinx characters, games inspired by Hispanic and Latinx cultures and locations, and games that include audio, interfaces, and subtitles translated in Spanish and Portuguese. These games include Retro Machina, an indie game from Brazil; Cris Tales, developed in Colombia by Dreams Uncorporated; and Gears Tactics, a turn-based strategy spin-off of the Gears of War franchise starring the father of Gears 5 protagonist Kait Diaz.
Perhaps the biggest game highlighted for Hispanic Heritage Month is Forza Horizon 5, which will be released this fall and allows players to explore Mexico in an open-world environment. The team behind Forza is celebrating as well, encouraging fans to share livery designs inspired by Hispanic and Latinx heritage with #ForzaHHM. The team's favorites will be featured in Forza Motorsport 7 and Forza Horizon 4, and the featured designers will receive in-game credit rewards.
During Hispanic Heritage Month, Microsoft Rewards members will earn additional points when they make a donation to Latinx in Gaming, a nonprofit that helps Latinx folks in the games industry connect and promote their projects, or CARE, a humanitarian organization that works in "100 countries including Latin America and the Caribbean." Xbox is also shining a spotlight on Xbox Ambassadors of Hispanic and Latinx heritage to share their stories about representation in gaming. On Twitch, the Xbox Plays team will be streaming games that follow a different Hispanic/Latinx theme every week of the month. Additionally, Xbox Avatars has a new collection of free Avatar attire for Hispanic Heritage Month, potentially building on Xbox's previous work to make Xbox Avatars more diverse and inclusive.
In 2020, nearly one in five people in the U.S. identified as Hispanic or Latinx, according to the Pew Research Center, accounting for 19% of the overall population. Video games are a great potential means to showcase diverse cultures, stories and histories, and Xbox's efforts this Hispanic Heritage Month could encourage fans who normally wouldn't to take part in learning about and appreciating those cultures.
Forza Horizon 5 is available for pre-order and releases on November 9, 2021, for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC.
Source: Xbox